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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2022 :: RMTnews 7 R MT has called once more on the Secretary of State for Transport to nationalise the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise prior to the Department of Transport making its decision on the future of the services this month. The Go-Ahead Group had announced that it has repaid almost £50 million to the government for money that it owed from the Southeastern franchise and expects to pay back more and has also set aside £30 million for a potential fine. Go-Ahead’s new announcement of the true scale of their breaches came just days after the government admitted that despite believing that the group had intentionally concealed money from the department, it was still in negotiations with Go- Ahead over a possible new contract to continue running the biggest franchise in Britain. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that it was simply beyond belief that just before this mega rail contact expired that the government, even with its history of dodgy contracts, could consider awarding it to a company that has repaid £50 million in money it hid from the taxpayer and which it believes worked to conceal this fact. "As we’ve said time after time, Go-Ahead are demonstrably unfit to operate our railways. “They can’t be trusted with public money. The publicly owned Operator of Last Resort stands ready to take over the franchise and it is the government’s public duty to nationalise it and put an end to this scandal once and for all,” he said. showed that these vital members of the rail team were prepared to stand up and fight for workplace justice. “Support from their colleagues on the picket lines has given the action a massive boost.  "Pickets are out in force and it's now down to Churchill's and their host company's to take note and offer these key workers a fair deal.  “Churchill can afford to pay, so they need to get back to the table with a proper offer, and the government need to tackle the cost-of-living crisis by ending their callous pay freeze on the railways,” he said.   GO-AHEAD ‘UNFIT’ TO RUN FRANCHISES Kings Cross